WrestleMania 42 Card Takes Shape as Randy Orton Bloodies Cody Rhodes

Randy Orton sat across from Cody Rhodes at a contract signing on SmackDown, told him everything he wanted to hear, and then kicked him in the groin, smashed his head between a steel chair and the ring steps, and left him bleeding on the floor while holding the WWE Championship overhead. That is how you build a WrestleMania 42 match. Everything that preceded that closing segment — a frustrating Tiffany Stratton versus Kiana James finish, Sami Zayn spiralling deeper into whatever he is becoming, and a Jade Cargill promo that finally had some teeth — was building blocks of varying quality. But the final image of SmackDown was a bloodied champion, a viper holding stolen gold, and a WrestleMania main event that suddenly feels personal in a way it did not 24 hours earlier.

Dave Simon and pro wrestler Genesis Johnny North watched all of it unfold live on Wrestling Uncensored, simultaneously booking out the full WrestleMania 42 card — 13 matches deep — while monitoring Team Canada’s elimination from the World Baseball Classic in real time. They also previewed every match on the AEW Revolution card, where MJF defends the AEW World Championship against Hangman Adam Page in a Texas Death Match with career-altering stipulations. It was a packed show that covered both promotions in detail, and the disagreements between Dave and Johnny on several key outcomes tell you everything about how unpredictable both WrestleMania and Revolution could be.

.@RandyOrton has completely SNAPPED 🤯 pic.twitter.com/3EJQJ1XOtz

— WWE (@WWE) March 14, 2026

Randy Orton Bloodies Cody Rhodes — The WrestleMania 42 Main Event Just Got Real

The contract signing between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton closed SmackDown and delivered exactly what it needed. The two men sat across from each other and exchanged what Johnny described as a genuinely friendly conversation — both saying they needed this match, both acknowledging the other’s greatness, trading catchphrases. It was calm. It was measured. And then Randy kicked Cody in the balls.

What followed was a full-scale assault. Randy tore Cody’s shirt off, threw him out of the ring, retrieved a steel chair, and smashed Cody’s head between the chair and the ring steps. Cody bladed and bled profusely. Jelly Roll tried to intervene and got pushed to the ground.

Nick Aldis tried to stop it and got shoved aside. Randy sat in the ring on a chair holding the WWE Championship with Cody’s blood on his hands — a visual that Dave called “dramatic” and Johnny called “far better than Raw’s ending.”

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The intended heel turn may not stick in the way WWE wants. Dave noted in real time that the crowd was not booing Randy during the assault — they were on their feet, enjoying it. Randy Orton beating someone up reads as cool, not villainous, and the challenge for WWE over the next five weeks is making the audience want Cody to win rather than cheering the Viper for being the Viper.

Johnny’s take was more practical: after too many babyface-versus-babyface WrestleMania builds, having one clear heel in the Cody-Randy match is the right structural decision regardless of whether the crowd cooperates.

Booking WrestleMania 42: Dave and Johnny Map Out 13 Matches

With WrestleMania 42 five weeks away on April 18-19 in Las Vegas, the hosts laid out the full two-night card as they see it developing. Five matches are officially confirmed. Dave and Johnny projected eight more based on current television builds, arriving at what they believe will be the complete 13-match card across both nights.

The Drew McIntyre storyline took a significant turn on SmackDown when Drew demanded a rematch from Nick Aldis, was confronted by Jacob Fatu, and then quit on the spot. Dave noted that Drew has done this before as a storyline device and that he will obviously be back. The logical endpoint is Drew vs Fatu at WrestleMania, which both hosts agree is the right direction. Trick Williams picked up a tainted win over Fatu later in the night after Drew interfered with a Glasgow Kiss headbutt outside the ring.

The biggest debate was over the Judgment Day fallout on Raw. Dominik Mysterio was turned on by the stable — even Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez got involved in the beatdown of Finn Bálor — setting up what appears to be a clear Dominik vs Finn program for WrestleMania. Johnny was confident in this direction, while Dave initially floated a Penta rematch before agreeing that Dom vs Finn makes more sense given the storyline betrayal.

SmackDown Highs and Lows: Jade Delivers, Sami Spirals, Seth Stumbles

The best non-contract-signing segment on SmackDown was Jade Cargill squashing Mia Yim, then cutting a promo about how nobody in the locker room has the courage to confront her face to face. Rhea Ripley answered the call, told Jade she would be her “bitch at WrestleMania,” and the crowd reacted.

Dave gave Jade the edge over the R-Truth and Damian Priest comedy backstage bit, which Johnny argued was the best part of the show. Truth’s line about the Garza brothers — “I have no idea who you guys are, one of you smells, no deodorant” — had Johnny in stitches, but Dave preferred the intensity of the Jade-Rhea confrontation.

Sami Zayn’s heel turn continued to develop in a direction neither host fully understands. His jealousy toward Cody is the obvious read, but the execution has been inconsistent. Johnny called him a “two-faced, slimy douchebag” — not as an insult but as an accurate description of the character — noting that Sami tries to put people down and then immediately backtracks when called on it.

Dave sees a possible WrestleMania program with Trick Williams, but questions whether that match is WrestleMania-worthy or belongs on the SmackDown before.

The weakest segment of the week across both shows was Seth Rollins’ masked army on Raw. A group of masked figures swarmed the ring in what Johnny compared directly to AEW’s Dark Order creepers. You could identify Seth in the group because, as Johnny noted, one of the guys was “like 400 pounds — clearly that’s not Seth Rollins.” Dave agreed it was messy and did nothing to get him excited for whatever Seth’s WrestleMania program turns out to be.

“SmackDown was better than Raw this week. Raw didn’t do very much at all.”— Genesis Johnny North, Wrestling Uncensored

Raw Recap: Bayley Wins a Gauntlet, Oba Femi Impresses, Danhausen Entertains

Raw’s gauntlet match ate a significant portion of the show, with Bayley ultimately winning to become the number one contender for AJ Lee’s Women’s Intercontinental Championship. The match saw IYO SKY eliminate Lyra Valkyria and Raquel Rodriguez before Ivy Nile caught IYO after a post-match attack, and Bayley defeated both Ivy Nile and Asuka to earn the shot. The title match is happening immediately on Monday — not at WrestleMania — which surprised Dave and led both hosts to predict Becky Lynch interference setting up AJ vs Becky at WrestleMania instead.

Oba Femi’s match against Rusev on Raw lasted only three minutes, which disappointed Johnny, given the matchup’s potential. Dave agreed it should have been more, but liked what he saw from Oba, calling him “something” and noting there is clearly a spot for him at WrestleMania. Johnny’s preference is Gunther vs Oba Femi, which Dave agreed would be fantastic.

Danhausen continued his entertaining backstage segments, appearing on both Raw and SmackDown. On Raw, he cursed El Grande (Chad Gable), who then disappeared before his match — Dave’s preferred interpretation being that the curse actually worked rather than an attack by El Bravo and Nayo. On SmackDown, he tried to get The Miz to be his mentor while Miz was hosting “Miz TV” with Jelly Roll. Dave predicted a Jelly Roll tag team match at WrestleMania with Danhausen, likely against Miz and Kit Wilson. Johnny was not enthusiastic about that prospect.

## Reality Check: Five Weeks Out and WrestleMania Still Has Holes

> **The Reality:** Five confirmed matches. Thirteen projected. And yet, the most memorable moments this week came from a contract-signing beatdown and a comedian’s backstage segments. The men’s tag divisions on both shows are in shambles — Priest and Truth have been number one contenders for weeks with no title match in sight, and the Usos have nobody credible to defend against. Seth Rollins is running around with masked extras. Sami Zayn is feuding with his own personality. WWE has five weeks to fill eight more spots and give them all a reason to exist. The main events will carry WrestleMania regardless. The question is whether the rest of the card earns its place on the show or just fills time.

AEW Revolution Preview: MJF vs Hangman — Dave and Johnny Split

The second half of the show shifted to a comprehensive preview of AEW Revolution, airing Sunday night from Los Angeles. Dave read the entire card — main show, buy-in, and all — and his reaction to the sheer volume was characteristic: “It’s AEW Revolution. You can’t watch all the matches. If you do, you go blind.”

The main event is the match Dave is most excited about in all of wrestling right now. MJF defends the AEW World Championship against Hangman Adam Page in a Last Chance Texas Death Match. If Hangman loses, he can never challenge for the AEW title again. Dave’s position was firm and well-reasoned:

Hangman has to win. Losing in his own stipulation match with a career-ending clause would destroy the character. There is no redemption from that — no rematch, no revenge, just permanent defeat. He drew the parallel to Cody Rhodes’ AEW title stipulation, arguing it did not work for Cody or AEW and would not work for Hangman either.

Johnny disagreed. He believes MJF should win because the second reign is still young and it is too early to end it, with MJF stating he wants to break his own record for the longest title reign. Johnny also predicted Swerve Strickland would cost Hangman the match, setting up a return to the Swerve-Hangman program. The betting odds favour Johnny’s position — MJF is a -400 favourite, Hangman +250.

The FTR vs Young Bucks tag title match produced the most entertaining disagreement of the preview. Dave took the Bucks based on the LA crowd and the storyline setup from Dynamite. Johnny took FTR specifically because the setup felt “too convenient” for a Bucks win, suggesting AEW might swerve expectations. The betting odds have the Bucks at -180 favourites.

Dave was critical of several matches being on the pay-per-view at all. Andrade vs Bandido has no meaningful build. The Darby Allen, Orange Cassidy, and Roderick Strong trios match against the War Dogs just happened on Dynamite. Toni Storm vs Marina Shafir felt like it had already been blown off at the Australian Grand Slam hair match. His larger critique of AEW’s pay-per-view approach was familiar: the company consistently overstuffs their cards with matches that belong on weekly television, diluting the event’s significance and extending the runtime to marathon length.

Both hosts agreed on one fundamental point about AEW Revolution: the main event will deliver. Dave put both MJF and Hangman in his top five professional wrestlers on the planet. Johnny agreed MJF belongs there without question and called Hangman “in the discussion.” Whatever happens Sunday night, the match itself will be worth staying up for.

World Baseball Classic: Team Canada Falls to Team USA

Dave tracked the World Baseball Classic quarterfinal between Team Canada and Team USA live throughout the show, providing real-time updates as Canada fell 5-3. He was visibly disappointed but genuinely proud of Canada’s historic run — winning their pool by beating Cuba and Puerto Rico before falling to the Americans. Dave noted that Canada got unlucky with the bracket draw: if the USA had won their pool as expected rather than losing to Italy, Canada would have faced Italy in the quarterfinals. The WBC final is Tuesday night, with the MLB regular season starting the following Wednesday with the Yankees vs. the Giants on Netflix.

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